Jennifer Garner's Once Upon a Farm to Make Organic Baby Food Available to WIC-Eligible Families

/
March 5, 2019

Jennifer Garner‘s organic baby food company just took a huge, inclusive step forward.

Along with Once Upon a Farm, which Garner co-founded in 2017, the actress revealed in a press release Tuesday that the brand would begin offering products to WIC-eligible families in Florida and West Virginia.

“Bringing better nutrition to children everywhere has been our mission since the beginning — it’s never been and will never be about just feeding children who have a socio-economic advantage,” said Garner, who is the company’s Chief Brand Officer, in the press release.

“I’m committed to finding ways of providing healthy food to children who have less access and often limited opportunities,” continued the 46-year-old actress. “I’m grateful and encouraged by this first and very important step that we’ve made as a company.”

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Parents newsletter.

The company offers a variety of cold-pressed food cups and puree packs, and the new WIC-eligible products will come in the form of two-pack baby-food bowls.

The press release states that Once Upon a Farm is offering “the first refrigerated baby food specifically created for and made available to WIC participants.”

“When Jen and I joined the company in 2017, we did so with the goal to create a business that would drive social impact and advocate on behalf of babies, children and parents everywhere,” said CEO and co-founder John Foraker.

The new initiative will greenlight the food bowls for about 125,000 babies whose parents are part of the WIC program in Florida and West Virginia. Only 12 states currently have approvals in place for organic baby food under the WIC program.

“Being the first WIC-approved refrigerated baby food was an audacious goal of ours and we have worked incredibly hard to make this happen so early in our business journey,” Foraker said in the press release.

“Upon attaining WIC authorization in Florida and West Virginia, we are able to make a significant difference in the lives of nearly 125,000 WIC-eligible infants, especially during the first critical 1,000 days of their lives,” he added.

The WIC-eligible bowls (available in flavors like Apple Sweet Potato Blueberry and Pear Carrot Mango) will be available in West Virginia and Florida stores like Walmart, Target, Publix and Kroger beginning in June. According to the press release, Once Upon a Farm is currently “in the process of gaining approval in additional states.”